The Moment I Knew
by Tris Nephilim The-Garde
Summary: It is time for Ichigo's birthday party and she is super excited to see Masaya Aoyama again! But will he show up? [This is a Ryou x Ichigo fanfic.]
1. The Moment I Knew : Part One

_This story is a Ryou x Ichigo fanfic and was inspired by the song "The Moment I Knew" by Taylor Swift._

_Song: The Moment I Knew by Taylor Swift_

It was near Christmas Day and Ichigo was setting up the decorations for her birthday party that was going to take place later in the day. Akasaka cleared away the chairs and tables for Ichigo's party.

"So Ichigo, is Masaya coming?" asked Lettuce.

"Yup! He told me he will be flying back from England today!" answered Ichigo.

Ichigo pictured Masaya's perfect eyes and his amazing smile.

"How's your long distance relationship going? Is he cheating on you?" commented Ryou, interrupting Ichigo's reverie.

"Course not! How can you say such a thing?!" shouted Ichigo, shoving Ryou away.

"Well, we only need to put up the big banner and then everything will be in place," concluded Mint.

Ichigo set up the banner and smiled at the decorations around the room.

"This is going to be the best birthday ever!" cheered Ichigo, waving her hands in the air.

Later that day...

In Ichigo's room, all the girls rushed about to get ready.

"Ichigo! Are you done putting makeup on yet?! It's my turn!" shouted Mint as Ichigo fumbled around in the lipstick drawer.

"Here, use this one. It's called 'Strawberry Red'" said Zakuro, reaching into the drawer and pulled one out.

Ichigo uncapped the lipstick and stared at the bullet. She shrugged and applied it.

"Okay, yea, it's cool. Now, move over," said Mint, shoving Ichigo out of the pink cushioned seat.

"Can I put on some makeup too?" asked Pudding, jumping up and down in her yellow dress.

Lettuce knelt down and brushed some pink blush onto her cheeks.

"It's tickles!" giggled Pudding, inching away.

With the boys...

"Do you think Masaya will show up? He's been in England for five months and barely calls Ichigo," questioned Ryou, looking at himself in the mirror.

Akasaka smiled, "I'm sure he will show. He cares about Ichigo a lot."

"Sure, he cares about her," waved off Ryou.

"I know you like Ichigo, okay? I see the way you look at her when you think no ones looking. Why even bother asking about Masaya if you don't like him?" Akasaka fired at Ryou.

"Whatever, she's too in love to notice anyways," said Ryou, walking out of the door.

Akasaka thought, "He'll think of something to win her heart."

That night...

Ichigo entered Cafe Mew Mew and noticed the room was flooded with a magical pink glow.

"When will Masaya come?! I'm so excited!" shrieked Ichigo.

"Don't get your hopes up," stated Ryou as he walked past her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" wondered Ichigo.

Ichigo leaned on a table trying not to crush the flowers on her magenta dress. She glanced around the room and her eyes rested on Ryou Shirogane. She thought to herself that she couldn't like him. He was a jerk and she had a boyfriend already. Ryou was dancing with one of Ichigo's best friends. The blonde teen noticed her staring and came over to her still holding the brunette's hand.

"What is it, baka?" shot Ryou.

"Nothing... Hi, Miwa!" Ichigo greeted her best friend.

Miwa broke away from Ryou and the two girls went to talk alone. Miwa's cheeks were bright red.

"Awww! So how was Ryou?" teased Ichigo.

"Shut up! He's a great dancer, did you know that?" Miwa gushed, hiding her face in her hands.

A memory flooded into Ichigo's head.

**The lights filled the room with an iridescent glow. She stared as the blonde teen stood in front of her in his evening attire.**

**"It's a party, so enjoy yourselves," said Ryou.**

**"Wuaaahh... This looks like a real dance party!" gushed Ichigo.**

**"It IS, a real one," commented Ryou, crossing his arms  
**

**"Would you two care to join?" asked Akasaka kindly.**

**"I can't! I've only fork danced before at the PE festival!" stuttered Ichigo, waving her hands violently.**

**Ryou walked over and grabbed her hand, "I'll teach you."**

**"H-hey!" argued Ichigo, bounding after him.**

**Ichigo stumbled and accidentally stepped on Ryou's foot. He winced.**

**"Sorry!" apologized Ichigo.**

**"Get closer. Loosen up," instructed Ryou, holding her waist.**

**Before she knew it, they were waltzing on the dance floor together.**

Ichigo blinked a few times to clear the image of Ryou Shirogane from her mind.

"Um... Ichigo? I said he's a great dancer," repeated Miwa.

"Oh, yea, mhm.." mumbled Ichigo, looking up at the ceiling.

"Alright, daydream about Masaya as much as you want," said Miwa as she walked away to meet another one of Ichigo's best friends, Moe who was dancing with Akasaka.

Ichigo looked at the clock that hung on the wall. It's 8:00pm, Ichigo wondered to herself about how Masaya should be here by now. She peeled her eyes away from the ceiling and realized a blonde teen was still standing in front of her.

"Hey, Ichigo," he started.

She shot,"What?"

"Where's Masaya?" asked Ryou, sounding serious.

"I honestly don't know... He should be here by now..." Ichigo stated sadly.

"Maybe your special someone is standing in front of you right now," mumbled Ryou, before walking away.

"Wait! What?" Ichigo heard what he said, but wanted to hear him say it again.

She didn't understand why he said that, let alone why he sounded so serious. Ichigo was standing around for another hour, refusing to dance with anyone because she wanted to have the first dance with her boyfriend. Mint hurried over.

"Ichigo? Where's Masaya?" wondered Mint.

"I don't know..." Ichigo answered bluntly.

"Lettuce! Zakuro! Pudding!" called Mint, waving her hand as Ichigo continued to stare at the floor.

"Maybe Ryou's right... Maybe he is cheating on me..." Ichigo wondered aloud, jumping to conclusions.

Zakuro overheard Ichigo's last few words, "When did you start believing what Ryou said?"

"What if he's right?" gasped Ichigo.

Zakuro stared at her, "Stop that."

"He said he'd be here!" Ichigo's voice cracked.

"And he will be... I think," said Lettuce, the last few words softened into a whisper.

Pudding had zoned out for the last couple minutes, "Huh? Ichigo, where's Ma-."

Mint clasped her hand across Puddings mouth.

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" shouted Ichigo as she stood up and walked towards the washrooms.

Mint sighed and all the girls followed Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" shouted Lettuce.

"He said he would be here..." mumbled Ichigo, collapsing to her knees.

With Ryou...

"Ryou, why did you say that? You are such a goof!" Ryou insulted himself over and over again.

Akasaka walked up to him, "So! How's Ichigo?"

"I made a goof of myself. I danced with one of her friends until she couldn't stop giggling and then I went up to Ichigo and declared how her special guy is standing right in front of her," explained Ryou.

The boys heard many shouts of "Ichigo!" and glanced towards the origin of the shouting. Ichigo was running towards the washrooms with all the girls trailing in her wake.

"What?" wondered Akasaka.

"Girl problems?" replied Ryou.

"He said he would be here..." Ryou heard Ichigo say as she crumbled to the ground.

"Masaya?" wondered Akasaka.

Ryou nodded, "Probably, that jerk didn't even bother showing up to Ichigo's birthday party!"

"Well, Ryou Shirogane, now is your chance! Go win her heart," concluded Akasaka, pushing Ryou towards the girls.


	2. The Moment I Knew : Part Two

_Hey guys! Here is the final part to The Moment I Knew! I hope you like_ it~

_Song: The Moment I Knew by Taylor Swift_

With Ichigo...

Ichigo looked up and noticed Ryou making his way through the crowd to get to her.

"That jerk probably wants to rub it in my face," said Ichigo getting up.

In a matter of moments, Ryou was in front of Ichigo.

"Hey, are you... feeling better?" Ryou's voice wavered.

"What do you think? Feeling better?! I've never felt worse in my life! Go away and stop trying to rub it in my face! We all know that you have a billion girls waiting for you right now!" Ichigo spat in his face.

With Ryou...

In all of Ryou's life, he never would've thought that a girl would call him a player.

"You stopped talking! Ha! I knew it was true! I knew it and why are you still here?! I obviously have no right to be talking to a jock like you!" yelled Ichigo.

People started to stare.

"GREAT! LOOK, PEOPLE ARE STARING! YOU JUST LOVE ATTENTION! MAYBE THAT'S WHY YOU ARE A PLAYER! AND PROBABLY WHY YOU ARE TALKING TO ME, TO PUBLICLY HUMILIATE ME! YOU MUST BE HAPPY, BUT I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU LOVE THAT SORT OF ATTENTION SINCE NO GIRL THAT I KNOW LIKES A PLAYER!" Ichigo stomped off and returned to her journey towards the washroom.

None of the other girls followed her, but stared at Ryou. His fists were clenched and his jaw set.

"Are you really a player?" asked Mint.

"What is a player?" asked Pudding looking confused.

"A player is a person who dates many people at the same time!" yelled Ryou.

"Are you really a player?" repeated Mint.

"I would also like to know the answer to that question," Zakuro bluntly added.

Ryou's head filled with anger at Ichigo's stubbornness and at how she jumps to conclusions. He could barely hear the conversations that were thrown at him.

**"YOU MUST BE HAPPY!"**

Her words rang in his ears.

"Ryou! Are you a player?!" shouted Mint.

**"BUT I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU LOVE THAT SORT OF ATTENTION SINCE NO GIRL THAT I KNOW LIKES A PLAYER!"**

"Mint, please don't shout!" said Lettuce.

His senses were clouded by his anger.

"No," whispered Ryou.

"He answered, but I couldn't hear him!" said Mint.

"I said NO! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY SHE WOULD ASSUME THAT!" Ryou's voice rose.

The girls stood there and stared.

"WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO MAKE HER HATE ME?" Ryou shouted.

"I don't think she hates you. It's just her stubborn anger, I guess," said Lettuce, nicely.

"Something is troubling you, Ryou," said Zakuro.

"Nothing is TROUBLING me," replied Ryou.

"Something is. We can tell," Zakuro said.

"I SAID NOTHING!" Ryou shouted.

"Then stop shouting," replied Zakuro.

"Fine, something IS wrong," Ryou finally said.

"You're in love with her," concluded Zakuro, her tone serious.

"How would you know?" Ryou looked up.

"Come on, I know this is what everyone says, but I see the way you look at her. And it's not hard to guess that you love her," said Zakuro.

"Funny guess, but you're wrong," said Ryou.

"Do I need to mention that time when Ichigo and Masaya-" started Zakuro, slightly smiling.

"Fine, I love her, but she likes that jerk anyways," admitted Ryou.

"I suggest you go after her," Ryou turned around to see Akasaka talking to him.

With Ichigo...

Ichigo flung open the door to the bathroom and closed it, but she didn't lock it. She leaned against the door and slid down to the ground.

"Why didn't he come? He said he'd be here," wondered Ichigo.

She recalled many memories of strolling through the park with Masaya and how he would compliment her outfits saying that they were cute. Those compliments now started to rust in the back of her mind.

"Did he really love me?" Ichigo started to doubt and her hand moved instinctively onto her neck where her golden bell rested.

"What if he never did?" said Ichigo as tears ran down her cheeks.

At that moment, the door opened and Ichigo sat up. Behind her was Ryou, he had a surprised look on her face. Ryou quickly shut the door behind him.

With Ryou...

"Oh, and what do you want, now?" asked Ichigo, standing up.

"Look, I'm just saying that you don't deserve him. No! Wait, that came out wrong!" the words tumbled and Ryou had misspoken.

"JUST STOP! WHY DO YOU TRY TO MAKE EVERYONE SAD?! ARE YOU JUST SADISTIC? IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE?!" Ichigo was shouting again.

"No! It came out wrong!" Ryou tried to speak, but Ichigo had slapped him across the face.

The slap was like someone had speared him through his heart.

"CAN YOU SHUT UP NOW?! YOU MADE ME DOUBT MASAYA! DO YOU TRY TO BREAK ALL RELATIONSHIPS?!" shouted Ichigo.

"JUST LISTEN TO ME! MASAYA DOESN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE!" Ryou yelled.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! THE WORST THING IN THIS WORLD IS YOU!" Ichigo grabbed the soup bottle and threw it at Ryou.

Ryou blocked his face and tried to calm Ichigo down. He tried to grab her wrists. He was determined to confess his love for her.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" shouted Ichigo as she turned around and started to break down.

She shoved everything that was on the bathroom counter onto the floor and kicked them at Ryou. Ryou picked up the soup bottle and looked at the label. It was the strawberry scented soup that he recently purchased from the supermarket.

"Let me explain, Ichigo," said Ryou.

"STOP TALKING!" shouted Ichigo knocking the soup bottle onto the floor.

Ichigo was screaming as she punched the wall and stepped on the bottles. The liquids flooded the floor and the strawberry scented soup had spilled. The room started to smell like strawberries.

"ICHIGO, STOP!" said Ryou as he finally got a hold of her wrists.

He spun her around to face him and for a moment, he lost his grip on her wrists. She started thrashing again, but he got her left wrist with his right hand and her right wrist with his left hand.

"WHAT?!" Ichigo spat at Ryou.

"No," said Ryou.

"No, what?!" said a confused Ichigo.

"No, I am not a player," Ryou said calmly.

"I don't really care," stated Ichigo.

"I do, because.." started Ryou, but he slipped on the soup and fell back against the door.

They slipped onto the floor, the soup soaked their outfits.

"I do, because I love you," Ryou said.

"What? I thought you hated me," Ichigo didn't know how to respond.

"I would never hate you," said Ryou.

"Do you really think Masaya never loved me?" asked Ichigo.

"No guy can never love you," smiled Ryou.

"I may just like you, Ryou Shirogane," concluded Ichigo.

"Let's clean up this mess since I don't think we can go back out to your party looking like this," teased Ryou.

With Ichigo...

Ichigo agreed and they got up. They picked up the bottles that had rolled onto the floor.

"Is this strawberry scented soup?" smiled Ichigo.

"It's possible," joked Ryou.

After they finished cleaning the mess, they went back out to the party. The girls and Akasaka were still standing where they had left them, awaiting their return.

"Oh my goodness, what happened in there?" said Lettuce.

"Nothing really," smiled Ichigo as she fit her hand into Ryou's.

Ryou smiled and looked at Ichigo. Ichigo noticed for the first time that Ryou's blue shining eyes and his white smile made him look like an angel.

~THE END~

_So dramatic! I hope you guys enjoyed this intense two parter! I might be writing some more short stories after this too! And there will also be an epilogue after this so it isn't over just yet! XD ~_


	3. The Moment I Knew : Epilogue

_Alright! Here is the Epilogue! The final part of this story! I hope you like it!_

~Epilogue~

Ichigo was walking down her neighbourhood with Ryou Shirogane. They were on their way to Cafe Mew Mew and had been together for two months. Ichigo hasn't seen Masaya ever since she left England.

"I feel like eating a dozen chocolate-coated strawberries right now," said Ryou, gazing at Ichigo.

"You have really been obsessed with strawberries lately, Ryou," stated Ichigo.

She found it funny how ever since they had started dating, Ryou had been eating strawberries everyday.

"What? I like strawberries!" defended Ryou, raising his hands to cover his face.

Ichigo giggled. The couple turned the corner to see someone in front of Ichigo's house.

The young man turned around and said, "Ichigo! There you are!"

To Ichigo's horror, the young man was Masaya.

"Aoyama-kun?" Ichigo's hand flew to her neck, only to find the scarf that Ryou had given to her.

"Ichigo, I'm back from England and I got you a present!" said Masaya as he reached into his pocket and ran towards her.

"Masaya," Ryou's voice was filled with hatred.

Masaya turned back to Ichigo and held out a box. He opened the box and inside, there was a bracelet.

"Ichigo, I bought this expensive bracelet just for you. Isn't it beautiful?" presented Masaya.

"You think a present could make up for what you did?" asked Ichigo, her grip tightening on Ryou's hand.

For the first time, Masaya noticed Ryou standing there.

"What is this? Ichigo?" Masaya was clearly confused.

"You forgot about her birthday party," Ryou's voice spat, coldly.

"That's why I bought this bracelet for her," snapped Masaya at Ryou.

"A bracelet can't make up for what you did," Ichigo pointed out.

"Please, Ichigo, look! This bracelet has an 'I' on it, 'I' for 'Ichigo'!" said Masaya as he held out the bracelet for Ichigo to see.

Ichigo snatched up the bracelet and glanced at it. The label on the bracelet had a heart and the letter 'I' on it. She looked closer and scratched the spot right next to the 'I.' The silver paint came off and the letter now formed a 'B.'

"Who's 'B'?" asked Ryou after he glanced at the bracelet.

Masaya paled and took the bracelet from Ichigo, "'B' is nobody! The store must have messed up the bracelet!"

"And then they painted silver paint over it to fix it? No store would do that, only a shallow person would," explained Ichigo.

"Look, I went out of my way to get this bracelet for you and I know I didn't show up to your party. Please forgive me and let's go to the park like we usually do," pleaded Masaya.

"To the park like we usually do... a date," thought Ichigo.

Ryou thought Ichigo was about to agree and go back to the boy with the charming looks and the perfect personality.

"No, Masaya," answered Ichigo as she held up her hand that was entwined with Ryou's.

"You are dating him?" asked Masaya.

"Yes, you never responded to my phone calls or my text messages. You promised you would come back to celebrate my birthday party, but you didn't. You also bought me a cheap bracelet to try and fix our relationship," rambled Ichigo.

Ichigo walked away from Masaya, dragging Ryou with her as Masaya stood there looking at her.

"Wow! I thought for a second there that you were going to leave me," said Ryou.

"And why would I do that? I don't love him anymore," stated Ichigo.

"You don't?" asked Ryou.

"I don't," said Ichigo.

"When did you stop swooning over 'Prince Charming'?" Ryou teased, smirking at her.

"Guess," said Ichigo.

"At your party? The one where 'Prince Charming' ditched you?" Ryou guessed, looking at Ichigo.

"Yes, that was the moment I knew he wasn't the one," answered Ichigo as the brisk Autumn wind tangled her hair.

~Fin~

_I hope you guys like this story and please review and favourite!_

_ ~Chocoglamorous_


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